Finnish dairy and beef producers have appealed to the European Commission to maintain the current system of production subsidies.
The dairy producers fear that production will become unsustainable as prices fall in the face of growing supply and their increasing production costs - among the highest in central Europe.
The dairy farmers have also called for the preservation of subsidies for producers of beef and potato starch.
Chairman of the dairy committee of the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) Eero Isomaa says the focal point of dairy producers is improving market prospects and building up faith in the future in spite of increasing fears that the EU will discontinue its quota system without introducing compensatory subsidies.
A delegation of producers raised these concerns in Brussels with EU Agricultural Commissioner Marian Fischer Boel. The Commissioner was presented with a Finnish survival kit, containing traditional Finnish staples such as rye bread, cheese, butter and Koskenkorva vodka.
The European Commission is currently evaluating the viability of the union's agricultural sector with a view to rolling back quotas and production subsidies as soon as possible.
Finnish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Sirkka-Liisa Antilla and Commissioner Fischer-Boel are to begin discussions on the subsidies in the autumn.